Watergate's Liddy reveals guardian angel: Limbaugh

Watergate burglar G. Gordon Liddy, who left prison for a successful career as a conservative radio commentator, is retiring after 20 years and revealing two of the secrets that made him so famous so fast.

Liddy, who stopped broadcasting on Radio America July 27 and has since switched off his microphone for good, told Secrets that his radio career began over 20 years ago when he was asked to fill in for a vacationing talk show host in the New York area.

On the first day he arrived with a cold and his voice failed him. Down the hall, conservative host Rush Limbaugh had just finished broadcasting his national show and heard the "G-Man" struggling over the station's speakers. "He didn't know me from Adam but he came in, sat down and carried me for the rest of the program."

On the second day, media mogul Mel Karmazin was in his limo listening to competing radio stations in New York and was wowed by Liddy's blunt approach and told his Washington station, WJFK, to give the former Nixon aide an audition, which quickly led to a job and a long career on the radio.

When Liddy started at WJFK in 1992, he tried an unusual approach: He read news stories from the conservative press on air. "I just wanted to get the information out there. And it worked," he said in amazement.

Six weeks into retirement, politics still gets him going, especially President Obama. "Obama is in my view a Muslim, not a Christian," he said, "and very hard left philosophically." His favorite political moment was George W. Bush winning both elections. "I still have his bumper sticker on my diesel pickup."

And on Wednesday night, he was feted by The Competitive Enterprise Institute and Shirley & Banister Public Affairs where he told stories from prison.

But at 82, Liddy said he was getting "long in the tooth" and he's eager spend time with his 12 grandchildren and one great grandchild. "It's been a good ride," said Liddy, "but I"m finished."